


Silver in the Cold

by Thette



Series: My Coldflash Bingo [4]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hollywood, Alternate Universe - Movie Star, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Flirting, Gay Barry Allen, Gay Leonard Snart, Golden Age Hollywood, Illustrations, Implied/Referenced Prostitution, M/M, No Smut, Stalking, alternate universe - joe did not raise barry, hints of ray palmer/mick rory, hints of sara lance/iris west, implied/referenced hays code homophobia, implied/referenced period typical racism, iris stalks len to find out more about him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-23
Updated: 2019-03-23
Packaged: 2019-11-28 22:04:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18214238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thette/pseuds/Thette
Summary: Len hated publicity, but it was a part of the contract. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and tried for his best character smirk, before turning to the fan beside him."Barry, was it?" Len extended his hand, and Barry shook it, a bit too vigorously. He also didn't let go after the customary shakes, which was interesting. Len stroked Barry's pulse point with his index and middle finger, feeling the heartbeat speed up and watching Barry's eyes go wide.Green. No, hazel. His eyes were a beautiful hazel, with brown specks around the dilating pupils.Len let his eyes travel from Barry's face, down his body and up again. That face was now blushing a lovely scarlet. He still hadn't said a word, or made a move to let go. Len tilted his head, waiting. It took Barry five seconds to react."Yes! Yes, I'm Barry. Barry Allen. I've been looking forward to meeting you, Mr Snart.""Always nice to meet a fan," Len said, letting go of Barry's hand, and dragging his fingertips across his palm. "And please, call me Len. We're going to spend a lot of time together today."(In which Leonard Snart plays the villain on the silver screen, and Barry Allen is the lucky fan who wins a day on set.)





	Silver in the Cold

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PepperCat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PepperCat/gifts).



> Takes place in the mid-1930ies. Minor reference to period typical racism, where Joe was not allowed to raise Barry. Len refers to Barry as an "invert," which is period typical and was used both derogatory and as an intra-community term. Reference to period typical homophobia, in the form of the Hays code. Minor reference to Barry's history of survival prostitution. 
> 
> For PepperCat, who gave me the title. Betaed by the lovely SophiaCatherine.
> 
> Written for the Coldflash Bingo Collection, for the prompt "Movie Star AU." Image descriptions and image credits for the moodboard in the end notes.

Len stretched his neck, trying to get rid of a crick that was forming. The cold, wet air on the outdoor set sucked the heat out of his body, and he was thankful for the fur lined coat he could wear between takes. His cheap suit didn't help much during filming.

"I have a surprise for you, miss. I have a _surprise_ for you, miss." He tried out variations on the line, and worked his facial muscles into his best villainous smirk. The young actress, who played the screaming, yet plucky, damsel, had clearly not been hired for her acting chops. Not that he was opposed to eye candy, but it meant he had to carry both the scenes with her _and_ the scenes where he played against the painfully earnest Ray Palmer. Well, he couldn't deny that Palmer looked every inch the American hero. A good, old-fashioned boy next door. Boy scout. Mama's boy.

"Snart!" His assistant (and bodyguard), Sara Lance, broke him out of his thoughts. "You've got a visitor."

"Tell Mick he can drool over Boy Scout when we're done filming," he drawled, perpetually annoyed about his best friend's inappropriate crush.

"Uhm…" He didn't recognize the voice, or the face of the young man peeking at him from behind Sara's muscular shoulders. "Hi, I…  Uh… I won the contest?"

Len raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. Someone should really tell this kid how to be more assertive. And now he was rubbing the back of his neck. Painfully shy, or just star struck? Definitely cute, either way.

Sara saved the kid from himself. "Remember that 'Meet the Stars' contest? Barry here won, and for some reason, he chose to spend his day on set with you, of all people. Must be your sterling personality. No, wait, you don't have one. I don't know, maybe your ass? Because I wouldn't want to stare at your face all day."

"Thank you for your top-notch work. Always a consummate professional, Miss Lance." he said, pitching his voice into his villain character's register. Sara just flashed him a lopsided smile, winked with comic exaggeration, and walked away. Len couldn't help laughing. He loved Sara's banter, her irreverent attitude, and that she had absolutely no illusions about what it meant to be a Hollywood star. And, well, he didn't mind watching her leave. But today, he had more important tasks. He hated publicity, but it was a part of the contract. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and tried for his best character smirk, before turning to the man beside him.

"Barry, was it?" Len extended his hand, and Barry shook it, a bit too vigorously. He also didn't let go after the customary shakes, which was interesting. Len stroked Barry's pulse point with his index and middle finger, feeling the heartbeat speed up and watching Barry's eyes go wide.

Green. No, hazel. His eyes were a beautiful hazel, with brown specks around the dilating pupils.

Len let his eyes travel from Barry's face, down his body and up again. That face was now blushing a lovely scarlet. He still hadn't said a word, or made a move to let go. Len tilted his head, waiting. It took Barry five seconds to react.

"Yes! Yes, I'm Barry. Barry Allen. I've been looking forward to meeting you, Mr Snart."

"Always nice to meet a fan," Len said, letting go of Barry's hand, and dragging his fingertips across his palm. "And please, call me Len. We're going to spend a lot of time together today."

He gestured to his folding chair, and Barry sat down, stroking the name on the back reverently. Len wondered if he even was aware of what he was doing. He leaned forward, resting his arms on Barry's shoulders, and started talking, making sure to keep his voice down, and to carefully let out his breath on Barry's neck. Barry shuddered, and Len felt the movement as a delightful little vibration. "Tell me about yourself, Barry."

"Well, uhm… I'm twenty-six, from Central City, Missouri, and I'm a photographer… Mostly for the police, but I do some artwork, too."

***

When he'd seen Barry's attraction (and his delicious, lithe body), all he had wanted was a quick fuck with an eager fan. But his seduction technique had maybe worked a little too well, because as Barry grew more and more confident around him, he turned out to be hilarious. A sharp mind and a sarcastic tongue hid behind that innocent, Midwestern exterior, and Len was smitten. He still wanted to peel him out of that light brown suit, layer by layer, but he also found himself desperate to know more, to keep talking.

Luckily, once he got over his shyness, Barry only shut up when they were filming.

The prize included a tiny part as an extra, and Barry had done really well as a florist, selling a bouquet to Ray. His cheeks were glowing after they finished shooting that scene, and Len could see he wanted to talk about it. No wonder; it was his first Hollywood experience. It was getting late, and the set was closing down for the night.

"Want to tell me all about it over dinner?" he asked.

"I didn't know dinner was included," Barry said, looking away nervously.

"My treat," Len said, "but only if you want to." He shook his head slightly, trying hard to leave all the traces of the mobster Captain Cold behind, and gave Barry a genuine smile, nothing like Cold's cold smirks.

"Oh, I do! I just had plans with my best friend. Is there a phone I can use, so I can leave her a message? Don't want to stand her up. She worries about me."

"Let's leave the messaging to Miss Lance. She can entertain your friend while you're away."

Boy, could Sara entertain a lonely small town girl. She'd owe him for this, if Barry's friend was interested. And if she was prepared to follow her invert friend across the country, chances were she was one, too. (Not that it'd stop Sara; she'd seduced lots of ladies who were engaged or even married.)

***

"Honestly?" Barry asked, sipping the fruity Beaujolais.

"Of course I want your honest opinion. Flattery will get you everywhere, but I don't care about it. You've met Miss Lance."

Barry acknowledged the point with a sideways nod. "I think you've matured as an actor a lot, or maybe you're just given more complex roles now, but I still like your older movies better. _The Forgotten Name_ is your best work, I think."

Len held back a smile. "I see. What you're saying is that you like pre-code movies?"

Barry looked down, and then back at him again, with a smile that could outshine the California sun. He leaned in, whispering. "Maybe I just like it when you're gay."

"I can be gay as long as I die in the end---I'm a villain, you know."

"No, you're not. You play them, and you play them well, but _you,_ Leonard Snart, you are not a villain. There's so much good in you." The genuine belief was too much. He must've taken lessons from Boy Scout.

"How do you know?" he asked, wanting both to refute Barry's claims, and to bask in them. He wasn't a villain, that was true, but he was no do-gooder. Barry couldn't know about how he stole and fought his way across the states before he found himself in Hollywood, and the movie business wasn't exactly a place for angels, either. Len knew something about his character or his history shone through in his demeanor. That was why he always got the villain roles.

"You know my friend, Iris? She's an investigative journalist."

Nothing good could come from this. Len filled his glass from the bottle, and drank it all in one big gulp. Barry continued, not deterred by Len's diversion.

"When I first became a fan, she went all out, trying to investigate you. I think she might even have been a bit jealous. Well, I did get a bit obsessed in the beginning. And so did she. She found some of your arrest records, but she also found the court records from when you got custody of your sister, when your father went to prison. And the donations to the Seven Sisters orphanage in Alabama."

"Not just a bit obsessed, Barry." The deep dive into his past scared him. He wasn't the sharing type, preferred to keep his secrets to himself, and here Barry was telling him he knew them already.

"I'm sorry, that was out of line, I know. I told her to stay away." He took a deep breath. "Here's what _I_ don't tell people… I watched my mother's murder, and nobody believed me when I said my father didn't do it. He's still in prison, in Iron Heights. I also grew up in an orphanage. Iris' father wanted to adopt me, or just take me in as a foster child, but he's black, so…" Barry shrugged. "They kept me fed, that was all they could do. I work for the police, hoping that my photos can help keep other innocent people out of prison. What the police don't know is that I sold myself when I was thrown out of the orphanage. It was that, or petty theft, and I figured I had better chances on the street. So, I definitely don't blame you for your checkered past." His gaze grew distant, and he pulled back. "Actually, when I found out, that was when I fell for you completely. I guess I saw someone with a similar story, and I wanted to connect."

That was a lot to take in. The surveillance was one thing, and he really needed to have a word with this Iris about appropriate conduct. At the same time, he was impressed with her findings. She must be one hell of a journalist. Most of his eager fans loved the debonair film star, but Barry had taken to the criminal orphan instead. In a way, it was freeing. If he already knew, and nothing of this had made it into the papers, he was trustworthy. Barry's story was something else, too. It was far too heavy to know these things about each other.

"Not exactly first date material, Barry," was what he said.

"Is this a date?" Oh, damn. That smile would be his downfall.

"Of course it is." Dammit, if he hadn't already forgiven him, he was surely on his way. "How about we continue this date at my place instead?"

**Author's Note:**

> Image credit and description: 
> 
> All images are in black and white, with moderate blur and desaturation.
> 
> Top row: Cropped screenshot from Infantino Street (The Flash 3x22), a closeup of Leonard Snart's smirking face in three quarter profile to the right. The shot is from behind Barry Allen's shoulders, and his silhouette is to the left in the picture. They're standing very close. Image source: [Home of the Nutty](https://scifi.homeofthenutty.com/displayimage.php?album=648&pid=729060)
> 
> Second row, left: Photo of a pile of handwritten letters, overlaid with the text "Always nice to meet a fan" in white letters with black borders. Image source: Photo by [Ylanite Koppens, public domain](https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1568689)
> 
> Second row, middle: Vintage Victorian style film slide camera engraving. Original from the British Library. [Digitally enhanced by rawpixel, CC BY 2.0](https://www.flickr.com/photos/vintage_illustration/46785853841/in/photostream/)
> 
> Second row, right: Photo of Wentworth Miller from the chest up, in three quarter profile, in the middle of the picture. He looks slightly surprised, with a mostly neutral facial expression. He is wearing glasses, a white shirt and a waistcoat. To his right, behind him, is a man in a suit, partially depicted. To his left is a woman, depicted from the back. She stretches her arm behind Wentworth Miller, touching up the other man's makeup. Image source: [Cropped photo from the set of The Loft (2014), unknown photographer](http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/wentworth-miller/images/22930770/title/on-set-june-13-2011-photo)
> 
> Third and fourth row, left: Photo of Grant Gustin from the waist up, in front view, slightly right of center. He has a neutral and slightly bored expression. He is wearing a light-colored suit, a white shirt and a dark tie. The background is a neutral color. Image source: Cropped photo from [Tyler Shield's photoshoot of Grant Gustin and Danielle Panabaker](https://www.instagram.com/p/BrvmNgbhtIk/)
> 
> Third row, middle and right: Cropped photo of part of the Coca Cola filmstrip "Black Treasures." (1969). The filmstrip is rolled up. Overlaid is the fic title "Silver in the Cold" in white letters with black borders. Image source: Photo by [Bart Everson, CC BY 2.0](https://www.flickr.com/photos/11018968@N00/283990406/)
> 
> Fourth row, middle: Text in white with black borders on a plain gray background, "I can be gay as long as I die in the end---I'm a villain, you know."
> 
> Fourth row, right: Cropped photo of two men kissing. The photo is in profile, and the men are depicted from the waist to the chin. To the left is a relatively muscular man in a dark suit, white shirt and tie. To the right is a slim man, slightly shorter, wearing a light colored suit. The taller man holds his arms around the shorter man's waist, and the shorter man holds on to the taller man's right arm. Image source: [Vintage photography, unknown photographer, cirka 1920-1940, (fourth picture from the bottom)](http://godsandfoolishgrandeur.blogspot.com/2016/04/a-photographic-male-miscellany.html)


End file.
